title: Assessment and characterization of heavy metal resistance in Palk Bay sediment bacteria.
abstract: The present study aimed at characterizing the heavy metal resistance and assessing the resistance pattern to multiple heavy metals (300 mmol L⁻¹) by Palk Bay sediment bacteria. From 46 isolates, 24 isolates showed resistance to more than eight heavy metals. Among the 24 isolates S8-06 (Bacillus arsenicus), S8-10 (Bacillus pumilus), S8-14 (B. arsenicus), S6-01 (Bacillus indicus), S6-04 (Bacillus clausii), SS-06 (Planococcus maritimus) and SS-08 (Staphylococcus pasteuri) exhibited high resistance against arsenic, mercury, cobalt, cadmium, lead and selenium. Plasmid curing confirmed that the heavy metal resistance in S8-10 is chromosomal borne. Upon treatment with the heavy metals, the strain S8-10 showed many morphological and physiological changes as shown by SEM, FTIR and AAS analysis. S8-10 removed 47% of cadmium and 96% of lead from the growth medium. The study suggests that sediment bacteria can be biological indicators of heavy metal contamination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630003, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Chari
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nithya
authors.forename: Balasubramanian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gnanalakshmi
authors.forename: Shunmugiah Karutha
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Pandian
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects*; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D007194:India; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical